It is hard to imagine that anyone in the United States would try to argue that the health insurance industry is operating in a good way. Even those who are generally against universal healthcare will agree that insurance companies are out of control.

A surgeon in Texas recently made a video about an almost unbelievable experience she had dealing with a claim with United Health Care (UHC) (the nation’s largest insurance provider).

Elizabeth Potter is a plastic surgeon and was in the operating room getting ready to perform a surgery on a patient. The patient was already under and the whole team was in place. Then, Potter was notified that she needed to contact UHC about the procedure. So, she scrubbed out and got in touch with the UHC representative, who was calling to question whether the patient’s overnight stay after the procedure was justified.

In the video, she explains:

“It’s 2025, and navigating insurance has somehow gotten even more out of control… I just performed two bilateral DIEP flap surgeries and two bilateral tissue expander surgeries. During one of the DIEP cases, I was interrupted by a call from United Healthcare—while the patient was already asleep on the operating table. They demanded information about her diagnosis and inpatient stay justification. I had to scrub out mid-surgery to call United, only to find that the person on the line didn’t even have access to the patient’s full medical information, despite the procedure already being pre-approved. It’s beyond frustrating and, frankly, unacceptable. Patients and providers deserve better than this. We should be focused on care, not bureaucracy. I just have no other words at this point.”

She had to argue with the representative while the patient was waiting, meaning she was under anesthesia longer than is strictly necessary for the procedure. Needless to say, extending the time someone is under unnecessarily is not good for the patient.

Finally, Potter said that she needs to get back to the patient and disconnected the call.

This is just one of a seemingly endless number of roadblocks that insurance companies like UHC are known for enacting in order to avoid paying out claims. The fewer claims they can pay out on, the more money they can make.

It is stories like this that make is easy to understand why health insurance companies are among the most hated in the country.

You can see the full video here:

@drelisabethpotter

It’s 2025, and navigating insurance has somehow gotten even more out of control… I just performed two bilateral DIEP flap surgeries and two bilateral tissue expander surgeries. During one of the DIEP cases, I was interrupted by a call from United Healthcare—while the patient was already asleep on the operating table. They demanded information about her diagnosis and inpatient stay justification. I had to scrub out mid-surgery to call United, only to find that the person on the line didn’t even have access to the patient’s full medical information, despite the procedure already being pre-approved. It’s beyond frustrating and, frankly, unacceptable. Patients and providers deserve better than this. We should be focused on care, not bureaucracy. I just have no other words at this point

♬ original sound – Dr. Elisabeth Potter

I think everyone would agree with Potter in that insurance companies are out of control.

If you liked that story, check out this one about a 72-year-old woman was told by her life insurance company that her policy was worthless because she’d paid for 40 years. 🙁